Twas the Night before Christmas Eve
by ada69
Summary: A strange elf shows up at the door seeking Jake's help two days short of Christmas.


_**This is dedicated to Onej6 and Noble6…since you guys told me I should write something for Christmas. :D **_

**Twas the Night before Christmas Eve**

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Jake asked, his hand clamped tightly around the doorknob to his home. "It's not too late to turn back you know."

"It'll be fine," Rose replied rolling her eyes. "Your family's not that bad."

Jake laughed. "Easy for you to say. You haven't seen them on Christmas before."

It was the 23rd of December, two days before Christmas, and New York was buzzing with the excitement of the holidays. Last minute shoppers filled the streets, and light flakes of snow fell gently from the light gray sky.

But Jake and Rose had other plans. They were in charge of babysitting Haley while Jake's parents went out to finish up their Christmas shopping. It was always like them to wait until the last minute to get things done.

"Well," Jake shrugged, "can't say I didn't warn you." He pulled the door open and stepped inside to find his family buzzing around the living room cleaning and putting out the last of the Christmas decorations. Barn Yard Jingle Bells was blasting loudly in the background.

"Hey Jakers!" Jonathon greeted him warmly. "Rose," he nodded in her direction, and she waved in return.

"We were just finishing up," Susan joined as she put down her dustpan. "It's probably time for us to get going before the traffic gets bad," she snuck a glance up at the clock. "You coming, Jonathon?"

"Just a minute," he replied, his head completely blocked from view as his dug down deeper and deeper into the box of decorations.

Susan shook her head with a smile. "Now Jake," her face turned serious, "please watch your sister very carefully. I haven't forgotten about what happened the last time I left you and Rose alone with Haley."

Jake flashed back to last summer when they had played truth or dare after a raging summer storm had knocked out the power. He smiled at the memory. That had been a fun night.

"Okay," Susan said, swinging her coat over her shoulders, "we're leaving now."

" Have fun!" Jonathan smiled, throwing the door open and striding outside.

"But not too much fun," Susan added walking out after him and closing the door behind him.

The three stood in silence for a few seconds after.

"Well," Rose said. "What do you want to do?"

"Play truth or dare?" Jake joked.

"No," Rose and Haley replied simultaneously.

"I know!" Haley jumped up off of the couch. "Let's watch a Christmas movie!"

Jake shrugged. "Fine with me."

After debating for a half hour on what the all time best Christmas movie ever made was, they settled down on the couch and decided to watch _Elf. _

Jake had seen the movie many many times, and he found himself running every line through his head before it even came. After about an hour, he found himself staring out the living room window at the gently falling snowflakes. It was actually kind of pretty. For the moment anyway. It was when it mixed with the dirt and turned brown that it became a pain and a nuisance.

Just then he heard a sharp knock on the door, and he rose from the couch slowly to walk toward it.

"No answering the door to strangers," Haley stated.

Jake rolled his eyes and looked through the window. No one was there.

"Hmm," he said, "probably just some kid pulling pranks or something."

But then he heard the knock again. Somewhat annoyed and curious to an extreme, he walked toward the door and flung it open to find a small elf standing on the top step, wearing some hideous green costume and pointy shoes.

"Who the hell are you?" Jake asked.

"My name is Consuelo," he replied sharply in a Spanish accent. "Santa sent me."

"Consuelo the Spanish elf?" Jake couldn't help but laugh.

"Watch it, boy!" The elf replied. "Santa's watching you know!"

"Gee," Jake looked over at Rose and Haley, who were staring back with a confused look. "He must be a South Pole elf."

"That's it," the elf replied, "lump of coal."

"Oh take a joke," Jake smiled. "What brings you here? To my house?"

The elf huffed before stepping inside. "It seems we are experiences some difficulties with Christmas. It seems Rudolph has run away. He left some note about spending Christmas in Jamaica."

_*Flash to Rudolph sitting on the beach drinking a Budweiser.*_

"You know," Jake replied. "There is this thing they make called a flashlight. You don't need Rudolph."

"It's not just the absence of Rudolph," Consuelo replied. "We'd honestly probably be better off without him," he mumbled underneath his breath. "Always crashing into buildings that stupid reindeer. It's what he has that's important."

"And that would be…"

"The thininator," the small elf replied. "It's what gives Santa the ability to fit into the chimneys."

"Or he could just go on a diet," Jake mumbled in return.

"Don't push it kid," Consuelo replied. "You're already on the naughty list you know."

Jake rolled his eyes. "So what do you want me to do?"

"You're the American Dragon for goodness sakes!" The elf threw his hands up into the air. "Aren't you supposed to know these things?"

"Umm," Jake scratched the back of his head, "I guess so."

Consuelo sighed. "There is a spare in New York at some magical shop called Murphy's. You have any idea where that is at?"

"Nope," Jake replied stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Silence.

"Well!" The elf practically screamed. "Figure it out!"

Jake sighed and turned toward the stairs. "Just a minute."

Minutes later the four were flying through the sky, Consuelo on Haley's back and Rose on Jake's.

"Turn. Right. On. 22nd. Street."

"I didn't even know they made a magical GPS," Rose said.

"Me either," Consuelo added, "and I hate the way she talks."

"Hey," Jake turned his head in the direction of Consuelo, "Don't be hatin' on Belinda."

"You NAMED her?" Haley asked.

"And of all things Belinda," Consuelo muttered. "The name of my ex."

"Hey now," Jake replied, "can we just focus on getting this…this thininator thingy? I want some presents for Christmas."

"Turn. Left. On. Maple. Street."

"Don't matter," Consuelo replied, "you ain't getting anything anyways."

"Then why am I even here?" Jake threw his hands up in the air.

"Because it's your job," Consuelo answered simply.

"On. Your. Left. You. Have. Reached. Your. Destination." Belinda interrupted.

All four looked up from their argument to see what looked like a rundown old brick jail on the left side of the road.

"Ummmmmm….," Jake stared in confusion, "I don't think this is it."

"Great Jake!" Haley exclaimed. "Look where your girlfriend got us?"

"Hey," Rose pouted, "you've replaced me with Belinda?"

"Everybody just needs to calm down," Jake replied, pushing a couple buttons on Belinda. "I accidentally typed in the wrong magic shop."

"That," Consuelo nodded toward the building, "is a magic shop?"

"Was," Jake added, "until the owner got arrested. Turns out it was more like a crack house than a shop."

"Oh."

After another couple of minutes of Jake trying to figure out how to run the GPS, the gang was on the road again, this time hopefully speeding towards the correct destination. It was getting late, and Jake figured his parents would spaz if they returned home to find him and Haley missing.

"So, Consuelo," Jake tried to revive the conversation, "how did you get from the North Pole all the way to New York City?"

"Magical transportation," the Elf simply replied. "Santa has his ways."

"Well what do you do in your spare time?" Haley piped up cheerfully.

"Me?" Consuelo asked. "Well, it depends. I'm either reading through Santa's letters or organizing the naughty and nice lists. I'm not one to make toys."

"Well why not?" Rose asked. "I thought all the elves made toys."

"Well," Consuelo hesitated, "we all have different talents."

He left it at that and the conversation once again fell quiet.

"So," Haley broke the silence, "I'm on the nice list, right?"

"Course you are," the small elf replied with a friendly smile. "Your brother on the other hand…"

"Hey now," Jake scowled, "let's not be like that. I'm trying to find you this thingy at the very last minute. The least you could do is put in a good word with the big guy! Seriously, I've never even done anything that bad!"

"Oh yeah?" Consuelo challenged.

Jake hesitated. "Yeah. You can't possibly know everything about me!"

"Would about the time you removed the bolts from Rotwood's chair?" He asked. "Or the time when you tripped Brad at lunch and sent his food flying across the room? Or the time…"

"Alright!" Jake through his hands up in the air. "I'm not perfect. Sue me! But seriously, how do you watch everyone during every second of every day?"

"We have monitor elves," he replied.

"Really?" Jake shook his head. "What else do you know?"

Consuelo's voice turned serious. "I know what you did last summer."

Jake rolled his eyes without response.

"Destination. On. The. Right." Belinda broke the silence unknowingly.

The group looked up to see a more promising sight. A small shop stood in the corner of the street, almost impossible to see if you weren't looking at it right. A glittering sign in the front window told them that they were indeed at the right place this time, and after reverting back to their human forms, the four entered Murphy's and approached the counter.

"Welcome to Murphy's," the ogre behind the counter spoke robotically, "what can I do you for?"

"Hi," Consuelo spoke before anyone else got the chance, "I'm from the North Pole. Santa sent me here to retrieve a spare item. I believe the owner agreed to keep it specially protected and saved especially for us."

"Ah, yes," the ogre replied. "The thininator. Give me a second."

Jake peered around the counter and watched him as he proceeded to the back room. "Friendly guy," he said, taking a chance to look around the shop.

"Wow there are a lot of random items here," Rose replied picking up an old broomstick.

"That's the point," Consuelo replied dryly. "It's a magical shop. They carry a bit of everything."

A few minutes later, the ogre came back holding some strange little device no bigger than a slice of bread. He handed it to the elf before returning back to his computer.

"That's it?" Jake asked. "We came all this way for that?"

"Hey!" Consuelo snapped back making his way toward the exit. "This is what's gonna get you your presents Sherlock!"

"Aha!" Jake pointed his finger at him. "So I AM getting presents!"

The small elf hesitated. "Maybe. But only because you helped me!" Consuelo defended himself.

"Kay," Jake eyed him suspiciously. "But I'm watching you."

Consuelo sighed. "I better get back to the north pole. Santa's gonna be wanting this," he held up the device.

"Alright then," Jake replied, "I guess I'll see you next Christmas then when Dasher loses the keys to the sleigh and that needs replacing too!"

"Ugh," Consuelo replied, "no no no. Comet is in charge of the keys to the sleigh. Get it right," he smiled.

"Well, how was I supposed to know!" Jake exclaimed, turning his back to the elf, "it's not like they teach us this in school!"

But upon looking back, Consuelo was nowhere to be seen.

"He just…just disappeared," Rose looked up into the sky.

"Strange," Haley added.

"Hmmm," Jake looked behind a nearby trash can. "Must be a wizard elf."

"Well," Jake continued, "I've done my good deed for the year."

"You kind of waited till the last minute now, didn't you?" Rose smiled.

He shrugged in reply. "It always seems to work out alright for me."

"Well," Haley chimed in, "it certainly has been an interesting night."

"That it has been," Jake smiled. "That it has been."

**Well, I can't tell you where this came from to be honest. Wrote it in the car, and I was bored. So that's why there is so much…randomness. Lol. But it's Christmas…so I just wrote something light and fluffy and, to be honest, lacks a plot. **

**But hey: at least I managed to write something! Goodness it's been a long time…and to those of you reading When Death Strikes, wow I'm sorry! It's been soooo long! I can honestly say I have no time…then again I guess I wrote this. But I have time now, so expect the next chapter very soon, kay?**

**Again, kind of random. But it felt better than just writing nothing. And it's late by the way, so sorry for all the mistakes. I found a lot just reading through it once. **

**Merry Christmas!**

**~ada69**


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